What You See Is Not QUITE What You Get

In response to a query about what Shapeways FUD prints actually look like, compared with how they're displayed in their material renders, I've put together this comparison shot.

The render is the top image, the painted physical model is below.

I've tried to get the two as near in size as possible, and the ruler is there for size information.

As you can see, though the quality of the physical model is pretty good (considering its very small size), there is some loss and softening of detail as compared with the material render (top).

This was my very first attempt at modeling for 3d printing, and I've learned a great deal since then about what needs to be emphasized or exaggerated, but there's only so much you can do in that respect. We're still stuck with the fundamental limitations of the 3d printing process.